Hack a long Dining Bench with Storage for $200

A really easy to put together, cheap and effective dining bench that spans the entire length of our dining room. It was pure luck our wall space wall is the exact width of two BJURSTA bench seats.

IKEA items and other materials:

• 2 x BJURSTA bench seat (discontinued, so thank God for saved searches on Gumtree), $50 each
• 1 x SLÄTTEN Laminated flooring, maple effect $28.50
• 8 x Black storage container, $32
• 2 x box of 4 black Velcro picture frame hanging strips, $18
• 6 x wheels (optional) $24
• Screws
• Cable ties

BJURSTA bench | IKEA.com

Tools:

• Drill
• Saw

Steps to hack a dining bench with storage

1. Wait patiently to find 2 BJURSTA dining bench seats (second hand online) and join them together. Fix together using a piece of timber and screws on back legs
* Luckily my wall space wall is (incredibly) the exact width of 2 x BJURSTA dining bench seats and fit like a glove.

2. Strap 4 storage crates together with tape around handles, flip onto lid to keep level and brace the crates with a plank of laminate flooring.

---

Related: Turn the BJURSTA bench into luxe upholstered seating.

---

I chose to add wheels to keep them off the ground, allow easier movement and most importantly lock the crates together by placing the wheels screws over the gaps to stop any chance of shifting. You can skip this but it’s worth it.

3. Flip onto wheels and drill holes across each top corner of crates and cable tie these together so the top is now firm and secure.

4. Join 2 lengths of SLÄTTEN Laminated flooring, measure and cut to fit front of benches.

5. Attach floor / front panels to front of benches with black Velcro picture frame hanging strips.

These should be placed on the front, flush with the inside of leg uprights. Placing these on the leg upright will result in the front panel sitting ajar from the bench seat top. Two strips each side, so 8 all up to make sure it carries the weight adequately

Notes:

I chose this hack by chance as I noticed the measurements worked in my favour and had spare laminate flooring and wheels to use.

All up, this took an 2 hours together with some trouble shooting so realistically, 1 hour max. Cost all up was around $200.

It’s really easy to put together, cheap and effective looking but pay attention to screwing the wheels onto the crates / floor panel. You want to keep crates square as possible so they fit underneath correctly. The 4 crates (incredibly again) fit underneath with less than a cm spare top sides and back so any deviations could be troublesome.

Enjoy!

~ by Mat Hede

The post Hack a long Dining Bench with Storage for $200 appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

Hack a long Dining Bench with Storage for $200 published first on www.ikeahackers.net